by stablewp

Customers find the book compelling, witty, and entertaining. Readers also mention there are lots of tears and belly laughs throughout. Accompanying Jamison on her flight to discover those constraints is thrilling, if often harrowing. But the stories of others seem to weigh her down, and the tedium she fears begins to find its way into the book.

Bottles in the Basement: Surviving an Alcoholic – A Memoir Paperback – October 10, 2023

• They say the author has an incredible way of drawing them in and is relatable.
• Written with raw vulnerability, the pages of this book are filled with an honest look at her own relationship to alcohol.
• Next we have Mary Karr’s Lit, which is also the third book in a trilogy; it followed The Liars’ Club and Cherry.
• I recently came to terms with my own problematic relationship with alcohol, and my one solace has been in books.
• Although both are worth reading, it’s the first I find myself returning to, marvelling at its ability to conjure the insanity of addiction from inside its diabolical reality.

Most notably, it’s a brutally honest — and hilarious — reflection on the late writer’s path to sobriety. The Empathy Exams author’s stunning book juxtaposes her own relationship to addiction with stories of literary legends like Raymond Carver, and imbues it with rich cultural history. The result is a definitive treatment of the American recovery movement—a memoir in the subgenre like no other.

Recovery by Russell Brand

She alcohol memoirs provides actionable steps for anyone looking to drink less or none at all. A great starter book for anyone looking to begin changing their relationship with alcohol. This is a self-help book by a licensed therapist that braids together anonymized client stories, personal narrative, psychological tools, and brain research. White thoughtfully explores boundaries, emotional regulation, body image, shame, and self-care in a way that’s actionable and accessible.

• Her story is a beautiful reminder of how safety and support can lead the way to incredible healing.
• When she’s a child, we’re presented with the world as a child might see it.
• What was meant to be a positive and happy change led to depression, which she self-medicated with drinking, eventually consuming over a bottle of wine a day.
• Blackout is her poignant story of alcoholism and those many missing hours that disappeared when she had just enough to drink to wipe out her memory.
• Wondering if you need a drink to live a rich, colorful life?

portrait Of An Addict As A Young Man By Bill Clegg

This book functions as daily devotional with reflective meditations and modern day translations on how to improve your mental health. This book is for everyone, but learning to ‘tame the inner dragon’ is especially helpful to people in recovery. This book offers a collection of elegant, complex, and sophisticated recipes that prove there’s so much more to zero proof beverages than overly sweet ‘mocktails’. Bainbridge combines unique ingredients with detailed preparation to create thoughtful and flavorful non-alcoholic beverages. This is more than a cookbook – it’s a captivating read and a gorgeous coffee table book to peruse over and over again. Plus, it’s sure to impress your guests at your next dinner party.

Penny’s 3 favorite reads in 2024

Readers also mention the personal story is relatable and thoughtful. 2009’s Lit is the volume that deals with Karr’s alcoholism and desperate search for recovery. It can be read alone, but why would you want to miss out on reading all three in order?

What did I love about each book?

She’s focusing on her schoolwork and is on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then she falls for Booker, and her aunt Charlene—who has been in and out of treatment for alcoholism for decades—moves into the apartment above her family’s hair salon. The Revolution of Birdie Randolph is a beautiful look at the effects of alcoholism on friends and family members in the touching way only Brandy Colbert can master. They also appreciate that she sprinkles in her signature humor. In addition to authoring two books (her second comes out March 2023), McKowen hosts the Tell Me Something True podcast. Clare Pooley left her position at one of the world’s largest advertising agencies to focus on raising her three children.

Readers praise the honesty as exceptional, vivid, and impactful. They also appreciate the narrative style, saying it’s an amazing recap of her addiction story. When 15-year-old Cat moves to a new town in rural Michigan, she’s ecstatic to find a friend in Marlena, a beautiful, pill-popping neighbor. She’s drawn to Marlena’s world and joins her on an adventure of drinking, smoking, and kissing. Marlena’s dark habits worsen, though, and she ends up dead within the year. Decades later, Cat reminisces about those days with Marlena and learns to forgive herself and move on from those days.

The 15 most powerful memoirs about addiction and recovery

Once his 30 days are up, he has to figure out how to return to his New York City lifestyle sans alcohol. Burroughs’ story is one of triumph and loss, professional success and personal failure, finding your way to sobriety, falling into relapse, and starting all over again. If you’re looking to break free of the social pressure of cocktails and bar hopping, this is the book for you. I am not sure I’d be sober today if it weren’t for Tired of Thinking About Drinking. Belle’s consistent messaging on our faulty thinking led to a major mindset shift for me.

Why did I love this book?

Only in rare cases—as when the subject of a biography dies—is the answer simple. In other kinds, as in novels, endings are artifices of form, and the trick is not to let this feel true for the reader. But the challenge is particularly acute when the story is about a life that, as the reader well knows, has simply gone on and on beyond the final page. Life doesn’t provide moments of satisfying narrative resolution. How do you craft an ending that makes narrative sense but which feels complex and inconclusive in the way life so often is? Many addiction memoirs evince a desire to repay the reader for all the dark places the story has taken them with a thumpingly joyous ending.